Slick designs are only available in limited quantities; check them out if you're willing to brave the dust

Open-air cases do have some distinct disadvantages -- namely component safety and dust buildup. But Taiwanese component maker In Win Development Inc. (TPE:6117) is convinced many gamers would gladly tackle those minor annoyances to get a gorgeous open-air tool-less case.

At the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show InWin showed us a trio of tool-less cases dubbed the H-Frame, H-Frame (mini-)ITX, and D-Frame. The D-Frame and H-Frame cases are available in very limited quantities for $399.00 USD from InWin's e-store (InWin did not specify release details of the ITX case).

The D-Frame features a colorful painted aluminum case, that the user can assemble themselves without tools. The hardy case features precision welds and transparent plastic paneling to show off components and protect them.

The case has an adjustable power-supply bay capable of accommodating supplies up to 220 mm long. The case can house four 120 mm adjustable speed fans. Also included are slots for three 3.5” HDDs, two 2.5” SSDs, one optical drive, the latest Super Speed USB 3.0 ports, and 8 PCI expansion slots (with clearance for up to 330 mm graphics cards.

The case is compatible with both ATX and microATX motherboard form factors.

[Image Source: Jason Mick/DailyTech]

Only 500 units of the case will be produced. The D-Frame will be available this month. The case is available in red and orange varieties.

The H-Frame is a slightly bigger case design, also made for ATX and microATX motherboards. It accommodates a motherboard with USB 2.0 & 3.0 front connectors, multi-GPU graphics. There are three EZ-Swap 3.5" HDD bays, one EZ-Swap 2.5" SSD bay, an optical drive bay, and a full-size ATX power supply slot.

Only a scant 100 units of the case will be produced. The case will be available in silver and blue varieties. Availability will be in August 2013.

Last, but not least InWin teased at a petite ITX case that accommodates a single small graphics card, a mini-ITX motherboard, and a small 120-watt power supply. The body is brushed aluminum, similar to the larger H-Frame.

The case bears metallic green accents. As mentioned, availability and pricing of this unit were not discussed, but it will likely be priced slightly lower and also be offered in limited quantities sometime later this year.

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I recently posted a brief but angry rant about "gamer" cases, the last being an offering from Lenovo, that was basicly "a metal boxed wrapped in plastic-ugly." You know the gamer cases I mean, they slap bulky molded plastic to the front with some LEDs to light it, and call it super-duper-14-year-old-cool.

THESE cases, on the other hand, are interesting, bordering on artistic, especially the ITX offering. THIS is the kind of stuff talented industrial design students pull together in college, and it's far better than all that other paste-plastic-crap-to-the-front cases that pose as cool.

They are not the first one with this kind of open air cases. Antec has been making them for a while with their skeleton and Lanboy Air series. There is tons of great design cases if you're interested. If you really want your machine to stand out, don't buy pre-built store computers. For the most part, they are very conservative (plain and boring) design. Now try the Lian-Li T1 spider ...

these are designer cases. their everyday usefulness is quite limited by dust and noise concerns... too bad, they look kinda cool. the green thingie looks very cool; it's about time that someone tried to make HTPCs look sexy.

I thought WTF! but the jungle gym style case does grow on you. The only changes I would make is to powder coat the frame black, replace the plastic sides with smoky glass and etch a naked woman with a skull face on glass..maybe add some diamond plate here and there.

I don't really see a problem with the D-Frame as far as dust goes. It would be very simple to clean that one with a blast of compressed air every few weeks as opposed to having to tear my current case apart and clean out the dust mounds and pet hair the way I do now.

Nice, I like the last 2 cases, they really give me some ideas for building some home-brew casemods out of sheetmetal, its cheap and easy to work with. The green iTX case looks VERY easy to duplicate, can't wait top try.

If you set up airflow right and use filters on the fans, you won't have a dust problem. I'm not sure what the concern is. Fans will dictate what air gets close to your components.

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